Star of Wonder
by EnigmaticHelio
Summary: (First of 'Superstar' First of 'Enigma Unleashed') I am Helio. About 26 years before Nightmare Moon was banished, I was born. I am the Prince of the Stars. I love my sisters Celestia and Luna with all of my heart. But one day I was put into the situation where I had to choose between my sisters and our kingdom. That choice ended me. This is the story of how I died.
1. Chapter 1: It's a beautiful day

Hi there. I'm Prince Helio. Let me tell you a story…

As usual, I woke up to the skillfully crafted morning sky my sister makes.

"Good morning, Helio! Do you really still need others to get you out of bed _and _to get you to remove the stars?" my other sister, Luna, teased me as I groggily climbed out of bed.

"No, Luna. I'll handle the stars in a minute. Maybe after breakfast…" I grumbled. I then walked to an open area of the room to put my armor on. "I'm still only fifteen. Cut me some slack."

"No, you're getting to the stars, _now_." she commanded. "Now, let's get some light in here." As she opened the curtains, I hissed at the presence of light.

As I finished collecting my armor, I cast my signature spell. But then I noticed something missing, something very important to me.

"Oh no, where's Totsuka-no-Tsurugi?! Luna, I swear, if you did anything to it, I swear on each and every god of this planet-"I began my threat.

"Helio," Luna shouted to shut me up, which it did quite well, though I kept eying her suspiciously. "Your staff is just fine. Tia has it. She's in the Dining Hall." she assured me, opening the door.

"Oooh, I love you, but I'm going to kill you if anything happened to Ten-Fist!" I warned my sister, eyeing her suspiciously. "Wait, where's your armor? Luna, we've got the negotiation at the Draconic Empire today! Suit up!" she giggled at me as if I had said something stupid.

"Little bro, the negotiation is tomorrow. You know, Helio, I would think a fifteen year old prince would be able to keep track of his own schedule." She teased. Now I began to get irritated.

"What, Why didn't you tell me that earlier?!" I nearly shouted.

"Well," she began, "as I had said, I thought you had known already."

"Fine, then. If you need me," I grunted as I took off my armor, "I'll be at the dining hall." I then stormed downstairs to retrieve my staff.

"Good morning, Helio." Tia greeted me as I entered. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did. Thank you for asking." My expression then dropped to one of seriousness. "Down to business, where's Totsuka-no-Tsurugi?" her expression underwent the same changes as mine.

"My apologies Helio, but I must deny your request." Tia replied, using her regal wording. "Whenever you get ahold of that one staff, you practice your astral magic until you black out from starvation or exhaustion. Now, sit down with me and eat your breakfast."

Okay, let me fill you in on the whole 'astral magic' stuff. I, as an alicorn, can invent any spell that pops into my head. With this power, I have decided to make a series of spells that incorporate cosmic or symbolically cosmic traits. The only way that anypony else can learn these spells and be able to use them, including other alicorns, is by the creator of the spell itself transmits the spell _into _your internal magic supply. As a result, there are certain ponies capable of magic conjuring who created a brotherhood of followers that worship _only _me, and not my sisters. They use their direct loyalty as an offer where, in turn, I make appearances at meetings and teach a select few all of my astral spells, which I attend occasionally. I am not the only one of my sisters who has one of these groups; both of my sisters have their own spells based off of their Sun and Moon. The reason I practice it so much is because I want to have more magical power and skill than my sisters, because I don't surpass them in anything important.

Anyway…

"Wait, Helio? Where's your armor? Helio, we have a negotiation today at the Draconic Empire! Breakfast will have to wait. Go get your armor, now!" I was still a bit irritated by Luna earlier, but I kept a lax face.

"Tia, the treaty negotiation is tomorrow. I made the same mistake. But then Luna…" I trailed off just before I heard Luna laugh villainously. "By the stars, Luna," She entered the dining hall dramatically. I growled as I shoved past her to recollect my armor.

"What's your problem, dearest brother?" she teased me. Right then, I let loose on her.

"_Really?!_" I yelled. "You woke me up in a very assertive manner, teased me about it, lied to me, teased me some more about what you had _just_ lied to me about, and now are _gloating_ about it, using my dismay as comedy relief! What do you _think_ is wrong?!" she remained in place with her eyes pointing towards the ground. Tia gave a light chuckle, which I replied to with a glare.

"What?" she asked with a face of surprise.

"I am being rushed this way and that way to get ready for the negotiation as is, then Luna gets this great idea to stall my process by lying to me, and now you're using it for entertainment as the middle mare with a front row seat!" she stared at the ground in guilt. "Sorry, sis," I turned to Luna and looked her in the eye, which was still directed at her hooves. "As for you, Moon Cheese," she winced at the nick-name I use to scold her. "You need to learn how to treat me with more respect, right after you learn to grow up! You're not a filly anymore, you're a grown mare, now act like one! You are twice as powerful and old as me, yet I am the one who has to keep your behavior in check!" she began to tear up. I began to regret scolding her so harshly. I sighed and placed my hoof on her shoulder to calm her down – by the way, her shoulder is very hard for me to reach. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you the way I did, really. I just, well," I sighed once more, "I need to keep everything in order so I can stay sane. If one thing slips out of place, my brain begins to malfunction. I then have to double check that nothing else is awry, and that process can be time consuming. So, when I found out you lied to me, I, well, I didn't think it was as funny as you and Tia found it." I held my forelegs up for a hug. "Hug?" I suggested. She just kept her focus on the floor, but her expression seemed to lighten up a bit. "How about before my hind legs give out on me? What do you say, Luna? Come on, you know you want to." She put her forelegs up and walked towards me to accept my hug.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled into my mane. "I was just trying to have a bit of fun, but I guess I got carried away."

"It's okay, hugs make everything better." I said into her shoulder.

"Pardon me, but, what is going on?" Celestia's secretary, Gleam, asked with concern. "Prince Helio? Princess Luna? Are you alright? Is Luna crying?" Tia just gave a light chuckle.

"Yes, everything is just fine, Gleam. You look quite lovely this morning! How are you?"

She smiled warmly at the complement. "Why thank you, Princess! I am doing well today. However, I don't think Heartshade's morning has been as good as mine has. He seemed stressed about something, but I can't get him to talk to me."

Luna pulled her head out of my mane to face Gleam and to dry her eyes. "Really?" she asked, confused. Gleam nodded to ensure her. "I'm going to go see what happened. I hope it's nothing bad…"

"Well of course you hope nothing bad happened to your dearest Heartshade! Even if you didn't care about the guard that accidentally impaled himself with a spear during morning practices last week." Score one for me!

"No, I just want to make sure my friend isn't hurt!" she snapped back. My turn, now.

"Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at him, or the way your posture suddenly becomes flawless when you see him, _or_ how your voice drops two octaves whenever he's within earshot." The score is now 2-0, my favor. "Not to mention, when you asked to go to the ball with him – on professional terms, of course – he denied and told you it was because he didn't know how to dance. Funny how you didn't ask anypony else, professionally or otherwise." I now lead by three points.

"Well," she began both angry _and _embarrassed, "have _you_ asked anypony to the ball at all, Helio?" by saying that, she set up her own trap.

"Yes, actually, I have. I asked Crimson Blaze, and unlike Heartshade, she can dance. Plus, she is very beautiful and said yes when I asked her. She even agreed to accompany me for the rest of the Gala." She stood there, awestruck. 4-0!

"W-wow, Good job, little bro1 I'm proud of you!" she had apparently moved from being argumentative to being a kiss-ass. "I mean, I knew Blaze had a little 'thing' for you, and I'm sure Tia can agree with me on that, but I didn't think you liked her back. Anyway, I still have to go check up on Heart. So, I'll see you later!"

"Wait, Luna," Tia stopped our sister, "what about breakfast?" but by then, our sister was already halfway down the hall. Tia sighed. "That sister of yours, Helio…"

Before I pass it off to Luna, let me fill you in on Heartshade. He's a good stallion. Luna first met him at a local market. He would guard stands from theft or any other potential crime for free. Because Luna saw honorable traits in him, she offered him the position of the assistant commander of the Celestial Armada, but he declined because he thought nopony else would take up his responsibility if he left. She assured him that she would find a proper replacement for him. He was nearly convinced, but claimed that he would only accept if he also could be her personal bodyguard, which Luna accepted.

Heart and I became good friends very quickly. Sometimes, I think he might have a crush on Luna. But hey, what do I know? I'm only fifteen.

_Perspective Change-_

_Princess Luna_

Because I wanted to go check up on Heart, I decided to visit his quarters. I stopped a few paces short of the door when I heard his voice. I looked at the door to notice that it was slightly ajar. I decided to poke my head in and caught him in the middle of… something.

"One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three – wha?!" He stumbled and fell face-first into his wardrobe. I gasped and ran over to help him up.

"Are you okay, Heart?! What were you doing? Say 'nothing', and I'll lock you in here and melt the doorknob." Oh my gosh, my voice _does_ drop when I talk to him!

He took a deep breath as he regained his posture. "You caught me. I was trying to learn to dance in time for the Gala so I could ask you to go with me and I could dance with you." When he admitted this, I hugged him tightly. As I did, he tensed, but I could feel him start to ease up and hug me back.

"That was really sweet of you, but you just had to ask me to teach you how to dance! I would have been more than happy to help you if it meant I could accompany you to the Gala."

He glanced at me with guilt before asking a logical question. "But, don't you have more important matters to attend to besides a dance lesson? I thought of that and decided to take matters into my own hooves."

I took a moment to think. "Well, we have the treaty negotiation this afternoon, but most everything else can be rescheduled. Wait, how did you learn the steps to dance? You didn't know them already, you don't have any books that tell you how, and the library has been closed since the day before I asked you to the Gala, thanks to Helio's great idea with the armadillo, wagon wheel, and chess piece." He grinned at the mention of the library incident.

"Yeah, I was with Helio when he did that. You got a fun little bro. Say, did anypony find that armadillo? I remember him releasing it, the a few seconds later, Bookworm, the librarian, screamed and then shrieked 'why is there an armadillo with a chess piece in its ass running around in _my_ library?!', then it was gone after about five minutes of mass chaos."

I gave it some thought. "I don't think it ever was found. Oh my, Helio…"

"Anyway, Crimson Blaze, an ex of mine, is now teaching me how to dance. I think you've met Crimson Blaze, right?" I gave him a puzzled look, "Huh, I could've sworn you have met her before." As he finished, I came back to reality.

"Actually, I have met Blaze before. I was just confused by why you said she was your ex. When were you two dating? How long were you two dating? Why didn't you tell me you two ever dated? What broke you two up? I swear, if Helio did something, I'll make his death quick." He gave me a very concerned look, either for his friend's safety, or for his own. "I promise."

"N-no. Helio didn't do anything to break us up." I pondered for a slight bit then came up with a scary idea.

"Oh no, did _I_ accidentally do something to break you two up? I only asked you if I could join you for the Gala, not a date, right?"

"Well, maybe to _you_ it isn't, but, if it isn't a date, it's about as close as you can get to one. Blaze found out you asked me and thought that I declined solely because I can't dance, and thought that if I could dance, I would've said yes. She didn't want to be dating me if I was with another mare because, despite the polygamy law, she felt like she would be competing for my attention. Then, because of that, she left me" I gasped. "Yeah, and before I could tell her what actually happened, Helio asked her. So, I changed my game plan and told her anyway. She understood what happened. She said that if I still felt for her, she would tell Helio and go to the Gala with me. I said no because I wanted to go with you instead, plus I wanted Helio to be happy. She insisted that she still wanted to do something for me anyway, so I asked her to teach me to dance."

"Wow," I said, impressed by his sacrifice, "I'm sorry you had to do that. I didn't know. I swear, if I had known about you and Blaze, I wouldn't have asked you to the Gala, and none of this would've happened."

Heart chuckled and looked at me with a grin. "Yeah, this _is_ all your fault." I gawked at him, surprised by how rude his comment was. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be learning to dance, I wouldn't be dating you, you wouldn't have fallen for me, Helio wouldn't be happy because he wouldn't have a mare to go with him to the Gala, heck, your social life would be so small, you would still be asking Chop for crustless toast with a chocolate spread for breakfast every morning. So yeah, I think it's safe to say that it was all your fault that everypony's lives are perfect."

We began to stare at each other as we sat atop his bed. I began to get lost in his amber eyes and then slowly leaned towards him. He seemed to be in the same trance I was in, as he too began to lean forward. Then our faces were about half of an inch away from the others and then…

Well, one must not 'kiss and tell'…


	2. Chapter 2: The Gala is when?

_Perspective Change-_

_Prince Helio_

"Yes! For the thousandth time, the Gala is this upcoming Saturday!" Tia repeated with an agitated tone.

I put my hooves up to my temples in panic. "Oh no! No no no!"

Tia looked at me with more annoyance. "Helio, what's your main strain, now? You're acting the same way you did when we caught you in a net, trying to flee from the castle to avoid a vaccination and you thought the traps were set up by _timberwolves! _To make matters worse, you were eight when that happened." I turned to her with a worried expression.

"If story time is over, I'll let you know what my main strain is. I don't have anything to wear! I don't have a present for Blaze! I don't have our date at the Gala planned _at all! _My first date with the most beautiful mare that I'm _not _related to could go to Tartarus because I was unprepared! Must I continue?!" At this, Tia took a step back in fear, most likely because my right eye was twitching uncontrollably. Seeing her reaction, I made a strong attempt to calm down by taking a deep breath and get my eye problem sorted out. "I'm sorry, big sis. You know how I am, especially when put into this situation. I need a plan or I fall apart, and you know how much I suck at improvisation. I get nervous and begin to tone 'Uh' until somepony stops me. I only managed to squirm out of last week's library incident because I'm royalty!" Tia rolled her eyes at the mention of the event now commonly known around the palace as the 'plugged armadillo incident' to those with a sense of humor. "That's why I plan everything I do! I don't even know what kind of gift to get Blaze, to make things worse."

Tia gave me a nervous smile and cocked her head. "Is a gift really necessary?" I went hysteric as she finished. Twitchy eye and all.

"Yes! It's a date! Of course I need a gift! Not to mention, it's the Grand Galloping Gala, one of the most important events of the year, so I want to show her that I can make the best night of the year even better for her. Maybe a pendant on a necklace, or a ring…" I then decided to push it off for later. "Now, before I go _completely _insane, can I have Totsuka-no-Tsurugi?"

She nodded and tossed me my staff. "Alright, time to go think. I'm going to be in my room, 'kay Tia?"

She nodded once more, "Okay, Helio. I will collect you and your sister once it is time to take off."

_Perspective Change –_

_Assistant Commander Heartshade_

I ended up being the one to break our first kiss. "That was _really_ wrong!"

Luna gave her reply with a look of both confusion and pleasure. "How was that wrong? It felt pretty right to me." She then placed one hoof on the right side of my flank. "I mean, it couldn't have been _that_ bad, right?" she placed her other hoof on the left side of my flank. "Say, I don't think I have anything planned between now and the negotiation, which isn't until four." She then slid her hooves up to wrap her forelegs around my chest and hold me close to her. Oh my, was it nice, but still so, so wrong.

"Um, well, in order," I began, "You are my superior, making this more inappropriate as well as how it could interfere with our responsibilities if we work in the same facility. Next, it actually was a very enjoyable kiss, so I'm guessing it wasn't your first." She shook her head, "huh, you kiss well." She smiled at the complement. "Anyway, no, you don't have anything until the treaty negotiation. Finally, it is now three fifty-four, so, you should probably go get ready." She kept looking me in the eye and wrapped one of her hind legs around me and I began to get uncomfortable. "Perhaps now, Princess Lu-" she put my sentence to a halt with another kiss. Rude. She held me as tight as possible without breaking something important. I then placed my hooves on her sides as I kissed her back, elicting a number of quiet moans from her. She than leaned forward onto me, making me fall back onto my bed, still holding the Princess of the Night as delicately as I could. Right then, the worst possible thing that did not involve death happened.

_Perspective Change -_

_Princess Celestia_

"Oh my." I whispered to myself.

"P-Princess Celestia! I, uh, I-I can explain!" the royal knight stammered. I simply turned around and speed-trotted away.

I tried to forget what I had just witnessed and went to Helio's room to go collect him for the negotiation.

When I arrived, I knocked on the door. "Helio, it's just about, um, about time to go to the, uh, treaty negotiation. Are you, ah, ready to go?" I called through the door with temporal pauses.

"Where in the name of Tartarus is that Damned staff?!" he screamed with anger and confusion.

"Helio," I exclaimed, "watch your language! You can't talk like that at the negotiation! Well, really, you shouldn't talk like that at all." I scolded him. "Either way, once you're ready, let's go."

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm almost ready. Just as soon as I find Totsuka-no-Tsurugi. Wait, what about Luna? Isn't she coming, too?"

I will tell you what I said next, but, keep in mind that I panicked. Anypony panics, and considering what the honest answer was… just don't judge me on this. It's not a lie; it's just an unspecific response is all.

"Um, well, you see, she's working with one of the guards. It seemed important enough to me, I said she could sit this one out." I then noticed that I was sweating profusely.

"Oh, that's a bit out of the ordinary for you." I began to sweat even more as I believed he would soon suspect me. Look, I don't usually lie to anypony; it's because telling a lie to somepony doesn't sit well with me. So, after this, I am surprised I still live with myself, lying to my little brother. "Well, being the oldest sibling, what you say is the law, figuratively and physically. Can we say goodbye before we go?" he asked, just when I thought I was out of the woods.

"I think it would be best to leave her to her work."

"Okay, then." He sighed disappointingly. "I found my staff!" he happily declared. "It turns out, it was on my back all along!" his eye was starting to get a bit twitchy again. "The whole time! Heh heh heh…"

"Alright then," I said nervously, "let's go."

"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Off to the Gryphon Territory!"

"Helio, were going to the Draconic Empire." I corrected him.

"Ah-_hah!_ Indeed! Then, off to the Draconic Empire!" his behavior began to concern me.

"Helio, are you okay?" he turned to me with a grin of madness and said a sentence that I did not expect to hear for maybe a few years. "Blaze introduced me to the magical effects of alcohol! Why do you ask?"

"Well," I growled, "I guess miss Crimson Blaze and I will be having a little talk once we get home."

_Perspective Change -_

_Princess Luna_

"Tia, wait!" I called out to Tia, but she was already gone.

"Has she ever sentenced an execution?" Heart nervously asked.

"Uh, once, but she called it off because she couldn't bring herself to let it happen." I heard him sigh with relief as I reassured him. I turned back to him and tried to steal one more kiss. I foalishly expected it to be the last for the time being though. A few seconds later, I heard a knock at the door. I quickly broke the kiss, stepped off the bed, and regained my posture so it would seem like I had a simple chat with him. "Enter." I declared.

"Oh, Princess Luna! This is a surprise." Captain Riot Gyras bowed respectfully.

"Captain, you know about the bowing. You're embarrassing me in front of Heartshade!" I reminded him with a blush.

Captain Riot Gyras stood back up with a grin of interest. He likes to tease Tia and Helio sometimes, and they are fine with it, but whenever he teases me, I don't take it as lightly. "And what difference does Heartshade's presence make as opposed to anypony else's?"

"Um, well… I – er, we, um…" I stammered. I guess he then began to catch on, because he started to laugh uncontrollably. He was laughing… at _me_. "But, I…" his laughing gradually got louder.

"Oh, sweet Celestia! You two are… Naww!"

"Stop…" I said quietly and quite sheepishly. He didn't hear me over all of his laughing. "Stop it…" I tried again, but still got no response. "Stop it…" I said, finally with my normal tone, yet still, he just laughed at me. "Stop it! Stop laughing at me!" I screamed. I began to tear up, so I grabbed my new teddy bear, Heartshade. Gyras stopped laughing, fast. Heart held my head into his chest as I sobbed into him. He would stroke my zero-gravity mane and try to calm me down by whispering little sweet messages in my ear like 'it is okay, Luna', 'he stopped, Luna', or 'please stop crying, Luna. You are going to hyperventilate'. That's what I like about him; he will do anything as long as it is either the right thing to do or for a loved one. After a few minutes of comforting me, Heart placed his hooves on my shoulders and gently pushed me away to look me in the eye and make sure I was okay. I eventually regained the ability to breathe steadily, so I decided to thank him with a quick kiss. "Tia has never followed through an execution because she felt guilty. I on the other hoof, won't feel guilty." I grinned maniacally. I turned around to confront Gyras, but he was gone.

I heard Heart growl under his breath. "Coward." He spat. "Oh well, I'll release Tartarus on him during morning exercises. I'll just say that I had no idea how the manticore got loose. Here," he kept his hooves on my shoulders and guided me to lie down on the bed, "this will feel good." He promised as he began to massage me.

Wow. Just, wow.

He was able to relax spots on my wings I didn't know even could tense up. Next, he moved down to the base of my wings where they branch off from my back. When he started there, I accidentally moaned excessively loud in pleasure. The downside of this was that with all of the moaning, it caught somepony's attention.

"Hey, it sounds like a party in here. Who is it?" out of all the ponies in the world, the one who had to hear us was the only female soldier in the Celestial Guard, Floure. She gasped when she saw me lying face down on Heart's bed, as he was massaging me, to make matters worse.

"Wait, if what was going on was what you thought it was, you would've walked in on us. But you sounded totally cool about that if that would've happened." Heart pointed out.

Floure seemed to be annoyed and gave him a look as if he had said something stupid. "I have dated stallions before and you know that very well – or, you _should_ know that."

"Yes, but you've never dated _me_ before." Heart debated.

"Heart, it doesn't matter anymore, and you know that, too. You also know why I quit the whole dating game. Every stallion ended up being just like the last. To me, you've seen one, you've seen 'em all."

At that, I tried to say something angrily in Heart's defense, but with my face still in the bed, it went from "Hey, don't say that! Stallions do stand out from one another! Why do you think I chose to date Heartshade as opposed to Riot Gyras?!" to "Hmmph murmp hugruffp! Mummhur huphmut mump mruh fruhum! Muh nuh tump hupht tun mut!"

"What?" Heart asked with a chuckle. I sighed into the pillow and gave up. "Anyway, Floure, you are dismissed."

"Aw…" she whined.

"Now," he commanded sternly which convinced her to leave.

He then went back to massaging my back and wings. You know, it's times like that I wish I had asked him to the Gala years ago. He kept rubbing and I kept moaning in appreciation. Yet once again, that pleasure was short lived when there was another knock at the door.

"Oh come on, I never have this many visitors on any other day!" I heard Heart growl under his breath. He stopped easing my muscles to turn and face his guest. "Yes! Please, come in!" he said with a very agitated tone.

The door opened to reveal my good friend, Gleam. "Hello, Heartsha-" she stopped when she got a good look at the scene and applied a facial expression of concern. "You know what? It looks like you're a bit preoccupied. I'll come back later when you're free." She turned around to walk out.

"Wait," Heart called after her, I got up to see her turn around to listen, "Please, Gleam, don't tell anybody about this!" She smiled warmly and nodded. "Thanks, Gleam, I owe you one!"

She got a devious grin on her face, "No, you owe me a coffee tomorrow morning and lunch tomorrow, just you and me."

"Deal," Heart called back.

I walked back to the bed and lied down. "Oh, Heart darling…" I called. He turned around to see me beckoning him towards me. My horn began to glow as I used a spell to close the door behind Heartshade. When Heart approached the bed, I used both hooves to grab his arm and pull him onto the bed with me as I now wore nothing but a grin.

If you want to know what happened next, I'll just leave it to your dirty little imagination…

_Perspective Change-_

_Asst. Commander Heartshade_

"Knock knock!" I called through the door to Gleam's quarters to get her attention as I stood outside her quarters with her and Luna's coffees the following morning. In response, I heard a moan, a grunt, topped off with a loud crash. "Hey, Gleam, are you okay in there? It sounds like you fell off your bed. Gleam? Gleam?!" all I received was dead silence. I got a bad feeling, so I busted the door down. "Gleam?!" I looked around for her, but she was gone. Plus, the window was wide open.

"_The scream was definitely hers, so, where is she?"_ I then noticed a note carved into the wall.

_SHE WAS WARNED AND_

_SO ARE YOU_

_ -E_

"Oh no… Princess – Princess Celestia!" I shouted as loud as I could, running down each and every corridor.

I eventually heard a door swing open to expose a startled Celestia. "What is it?! Are we under attack?! I'll go get Luna!"

I managed to run fast enough to cut her off and tell her what happened. "No, it's not an attack! It's about how somepony fillynapped Gl-" Before I could finish, everything I saw was pitch black, like I was staring into eternal darkness. Wait, I can't hear anything either! What's going on?!

I-I think I'm dead.


	3. Chapter 3: E?

_Perspective Change-_

_Princess Celestia_

"No, it's not an attack! It's about how somebody fillynapped Gl-" his eyes rolled back into his head as he hit the ground. I screamed and began to malfunction.

"I need a medic immediately!" I shouted to nopony specifically. I dropped to my knees and did the first responsible thing I could think of: mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I heard Luna's hooves tap against the porcelain hallway floor down the hall behind me.

"Sis, what's going on? Wait, what are you doing with Heart?! Are you… kissing him?! He's mine, Celestia!" she shoved me aside and looked over Heart to see that he was unconscious. She dawned with realization as she did what seemed to be adding two and two together. She shamefully turned towards me to apologize. "Sorry, Tia. I didn't see what you were trying to do."

"Forget about it," I waved her off. "You said it yourself; you didn't see what I was trying to do. Let's just get back to figuring out what's going on with him, then we can talk." I turned towards Heart and screamed at what I saw next. My sister screamed in surprise from mine and jumped away from Heart, but tripped and fell over rather than landing gracefully. "Is his head… smoking?" I asked my fellow royal. She apprehensively took a look at her bodyguard.

"Yeah, his head is smoking. And it kinda looks like it's burning an E into him, doesn't it?" I nodded in agreement.

"_Something else seems amiss still,"_ I thought to myself. "What I still don't understand is-" I was abruptly interrupted by both the sight and sound of my youngest sibling sprinting our way, shouting a stream of rambles I couldn't interpret any which way with fear-struck eyes. When he approached us, I wrapped him in my forearms. "Helio, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Helio, talk to me." He couldn't seem to be able to form full words.

"I can't… she's… it's just, no…why did… but she _can't_ be… no…" was all I could make out, if I was even right about those fragments. He began to tear up, so I held him to myself and let him get his thoughts sorted. I then turned to my sister to continue my previous thoughts.

"As I was saying, I still don't understand how nopony has heard any of this excluding us three." Luna gave it some thought as her face shifted from concern towards Helio to fear of every extent of the word.

"Oh no," she whispered. "What if what happened to Heartshade actually has already happened to everypony else in the palace and we're the only ones left?!" Then, like Helio, she fell to her knees and sobbed into her forearms. "That's it, isn't it? We're the only ones left of those we love that haven't been incapacitated by that… that _thing_!" considering the state my siblings are currently in, I decided to try to make some progress as to finding a solution to save ourselves and/or cure Heartshade and anypony else afflicted by the threatening process.

"Okay, what begins with an E? Egocentric, eloquent, euphemistic, enigma, elusive, eulogy-wait!" my broken-hearted siblings turned towards me inquisitively. "It's Enigma! But, it doesn't make sense… Helio, Luna, stay calm, but what happened to Heartshade has happened to everypony else in the palace." Luna seemed to immediately break once she learned she was right about our staff's fate. Helio on the other hoof, was shaking with rage and determination. _"Good job, little bro,"_ I proudly thought to myself. He managed to squirm out of my grasp with eyes full of anger.

"Enigma, who's that?!" I took a breath in to tell him and Luna who Enigma was, but Helio cut me off before I could say anything. "It doesn't matter. He hurt Blaze, and that's already way too far! As far as I care, he's nothing but another thing I'm going to demolish by channeling every single astral spell I know through Ten-Fist if need be!" and with that, he charged down the corridor almost too enthusiastically, leaving Luna and I alone.

"Who is Enigma? Helio ran away before you could answer," she chuckled.

"Well," I began. "Enigma was a very intellectual being who considered himself over everypony and everything because of his brain power. In an attempt to overthrow me before you were born, he was captured and executed in an order that… that I gave." My sister gasped.

"You said you never gave that order before that time you called it off when I was seven," she blurted. "Did you lie to me?"

I sighed in both in relief and guilt, as I never fully explained why I called that one off. "After the successful execution of Enigma, it was all that I could think of at the execution you nearly witnessed, and I did not see the perpetrator as an equally corrupt soul to that of Enigma's. But either way, dead or alive, mentally or physically, Enigma still haunted me. Somehow he was able to write his own magical spell; a spell that modified an anatomy manipulating spell, turning your body not into another physical form, but a spiritual form. In order to survive, he must take control of a host body. The host doesn't have to be willing, forced, tricked, or even aware he's there, they just have to be alive." The more I explained Enigma's metaphysical state, the more I came to think the way I tried to obliterate his spiritual form was not as thorough as I had believed at the time. "I thought I had finally been rid of him once he had taken a soldier hostage as his host, which one of the former captains had… executed. A poor, innocent soldier who served bravely… a victim of circumstance was executed. I still remember his name, but I'd rather not tell, if you don't mind." Luna nodded sympathetically, yet still fearful.

"So, if it this this Enigma character, what does he want?-revenge?-the throne?"

"The blood of the stars!" I snapped back.

No wait, that wasn't me!

…right?

_Perspective Change-_

_Prince Helio_

"Enigma, whoever you are, you better watch out! I'm going to be the one to end you! Wielding Totsuka-No-Tsurugi, I will strike you down, staining the floor with your blood!" I called aloud. "I haven't slept for almost 47 hours; I'm _livin'_ off of adrenaline right now!" I found that very funny because it was quite true. The negotiation lasted all night, and I didn't get back to the palace until about five minutes before I ran to Tia and Luna, screaming my head off.

Say, that reminds me, you probably are curious why the negotiations took so long. And if not, well, suck it up.

I would scream at every cloud we passed and I would swipe my staff at each of them with a good, loud _whiz_. At first, Tia would laugh. Alcohol humor is never frowned upon, it just gets old. She seemed to get gradually irritated to the point where she took my staff. It did not take her long to learn her lesson from that.

Ya don't do-dun mess with none stoner's shit. Ahem, you don't mess with a drunk's stuff.

I screeched like a banshee and dove towards her. I blindsided her, retrieved my staff, and huddled behind a cloud while my sister rubbed the bruise on her cheek. She eventually found me crouching down behind a cloud, cradling Ten-Fist while repeatedly mumbling "My precious…"

By the time we managed to reach the Draconic Empire, I had sobered up. We were greeted by two guards who weren't sure who we were. We sat in the dungeon for three hours before they realized we were who we said we were. Technically, imprisoning us upon on our arrival was a declaration of war, but we let it slide as we were here for unity, not making enemies.

We were soon confronted by a tall dragon who's scales appeared to be made of glass. He bowed to apologize, and even then he was still as tall as Tia. "On behalf of the palace, we apologize for any and all inconveniences we may have caused you."

While Celestia smiled warmly and bowed in turn and said, "All is forgiven; it was a slight misunderstanding. Besides, in a palace, security must remain tight," I was not as forgiving.

"Well you know what, I don't! I have a beautiful mare at home whom I had a date with this afternoon! Now thanks to your idiotic staff, I have to cancel our second date!" I panted for air after my rant and Celestia looked at me with shock.

"Second date?"

"Yeah, we had our first date a while ago, so that would have made that the second date, right sis?" I raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling okay, Tia?"

She waved me off, "I know how to count, Helio. You just never told Luna and I you had a first date or how it went." I sighed heavily and decided just to get back to the negotiations.

"Can we talk this later?!" She now seemed to be very angry at me. "Wha-?! You're going to do this to me?" She didn't respond to me at all. "Really, the silent treatment?"

_Perspective Change-_

_Prisma_

"Do you two need a room to sort this out?" I suggested.

"Hey, butt outta this, Sparkles!" the colt spat.

"Show him some respect," the older mare scolded. "I'm sorry, we would appreciate a room… and maybe a paddle."

"Good idea," I grinned. "I'll go fetch both."

"Like hell you will," the reddish orange alicorn shouted. The taller and more mature ponies' eyes widened at his outburst.

"Helio," she glared at the younger one. Equines. I sighed and held up my claws as they began to glow silver along with the bickering (what I can guess only to be) siblings' mouths. Now they could not open their mouths. I wonder how that happened. They both looked at me with shock.

"You see, this is why I am known as Lord Prisma the Draconic Guardian." The mare's eyes lit up and she bowed. The colt screamed through his sealed lips, but he eventually stopped. "Well, I'd hate to be you, I guess." I smugly commented. He held a glare towards me, but I have no reason to care. "Now, let's get to that negotiation, shall we?"

_Perspective Change-_

_Prince Helio_

Gosh I hate that guy. And now he's magical? What the heck?! I had to use a quick spell to alert Crimson Blaze that I needed a rain check. _"I hope Blaze will understand why, though."_ That Prisma guy sat at a large U-shaped table filled with like, fifty other Draconic delegates.

"This is either going to end really well, or really badly," big sis mumbled.

By the time we got home, I went immediately to Blaze's quarters to apologize personally. "There you are," Blaze said as she ran up to me and wrapped her forearms around my neck. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and nuzzled her face into my shoulder. "I missed you, Star." I held her close and kissed her head.

"I missed you too, Blaze. Hey, you want to reschedule our date?"

She giggled at my suggestion. "I'd love to, Star. Got any ideas for our second date?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you want is fine, I guess."

Her eyes lit up and she now wore a mischievous grin. "Perfect; Chardon's it is, then."

"_Whoa,"_ I thought to myself. _"Even for a royal, that place is really high-class. Like, pick your teeth with platinum coins after each snack kind of high-class. So, either she wants to milk the benefits of dating a prince, or you're already in good with her… good job, Star."_

"Excellent choice, Crimson Blaze," I bowed, which elicited a flattered giggle and a blush from Blaze.

"You're the prince here, Star. Shouldn't I be the one bowing?" She gave me another kiss on the cheek. I raised my head and held out my hoof as an invitation for her to accompany me. She smiled warmly and placed her hoof delicately in mine and we walked out the palace's main entrance.

We walked the whole way, hoof in hoof. Neither of us said anything until we arrived.

_Perspective Change-_

_Crimson Blaze_

It was by far, the best date I ever had! Helio was very well behaved. I mean, not that he's _badly_ behaved at home, but he is very hyperactive most usually. He held the door for me once we arrived at the restaurant I chose. He pulled out a chair for me at our table, too.

We finally began a conversation after we ordered our food. Once a few minutes of conversation passed, we began to tell the other what we found distasteful.

"Oh," Helio chuckled. "How about those restaurants where they change your anatomy to a dragon or gryphon just so you can digest meat? I went to one and had the fourth worst experience of my life!"

I gave him a puzzled look. "Fourth?" I asked. He responded with an equally confused look.

"Third: kitchen at the Lunar Festival." I cracked a smile at the memory. Long story; fireworks involved. "Number two, Captain Gyras's quarters on the first day of Winter Wrap-Up." Longer story; more fireworks involved. "And then there is of course the unmatchable. Heartshade and I in the air vents, about a month ago, suggesting we didn't accidentally incapacitate or transfixiate you (whew, he has a vocabulary!).

"Say, now that I think of it," I began. "How come you've never asked anypony out on a date before? I mean, your sisters never mentioned you going out on one, and I do talk to your oldest sister a lot." He darted his eyes away from mine and I swore I saw an ever so light blush forming on his face. "What's wrong, Star? You seem suddenly so uncomfortable once I asked that." I have to admit, he was acting out of character before, but this was just directly suspicious of him to be like.

"Well… I guess that I've never really been that _interested_ in anypony in this way before, so this is more as an experiment to identify if what I feel toward you is what I really think it is." I felt a pang of annoyance. It seemed like he was treating me like some sort of research trial. A research trial is something Helio does where he hides out in his quarters for a few days when he wants to learn about something or solve something. The longest I've seen these go for is around two months when I made the mistake to ask the royal gardener to make a maze in the palace's front garden for Helio's birthday. He copied it onto a scroll and he was gone. To appease this pain, I decided to play a card I reserved for an occasion such as this one.

"You haven't been interested in anypony in a romantic matter before, you say? I see you and Heart change your anatomies as you go about the street feeding your eyes upon any young mare you can find." I knew we were finally even when his eyes widened with a mix of fear and guilt. He then stared at his tableware in silence.

"Wait," he began with a late start. "You don't even have any proof, do you?"

I couldn't help but grin, as I have prepared for this. "Oh really, then why is it that neither me nor your sisters can find _Sunset_ or _Neoblock_ in the public records or profiles?" I noticed a stream of perspiration running just behind his temple, but in front of his ear. I smugly laughed lightly to myself, but still tried to be compassionate and understanding. "It doesn't matter now, though. Just promise me one thing; that you won't do that anymore, okay? I can accept that you did it when you and Heart were single, but you're in a relationship with me, and if you're going to date me, you're not going to make me compete with other mares for your, ah… _attentive_ eyes. Can you promise me that, Star?" he nodded slowly with a half-hearted smile and was about to say something when a waiter arrived with our food.

About half of an hour later we finished our dinner and headed back home. Helio kept one hoof on my shoulder and gently held me close to him. To be honest, I've never seen this side of Helio. I only have really seen his energetic side which is worst when he's around Heart. Then again, Heart acts awfully immature when he's with Helio than when he leads the morning drills for the Guard.

We arrived at the palace and Helio even decided to see me to my quarters safely. Not that I was in any danger, but it was a polite gesture a gentlecolt gives after a date like the one we just returned from. I turned around to give him one last kiss to say goodnight, but before I could reach his lips, my vision filled with only blackness. I couldn't hear anything, either. I felt lost in the unending, unchanging, unknown abyss and wanted so dearly to scream at everything and hold on to whoever or whatever I could get my hooves on.

I-I…

I think I'm dead. But…

Why? How? Somepony? Anypony?...

He-Helio?


End file.
